What's the name of my Necklace?

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holdencaulfield

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I was wondering what the particular name of the design of the necklace I have is. Let me describe it.

On the front side it is a Cross. The top of the Cross has Christ with His Sacred Heart. The right side has St. Christopher. The left side has St. Anthony of Padua and the bottom the Blessed Theotokos as she is depicted in the Miraculous Medal. The center has the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove.

I’m unsure what all is on the back because it has been worn down. However the left side of the Cross has the Infant of Prague. The middle has a dogwood flower. And the bottom has the back side of the Miraculous Medal.
 
Sounds like a four-way or five-way cross (basically a pendant incorporating four or five different medals in the form of a cross). The back would almost certainly have had a depiction of Our Lady of Mt Carmel (which together with the Sacred Heart would form a Scapular Medal), just as it has the back of the Miraculous Medal opposite the front of that one.
 
LilyM said:
Sounds like a four-way or five-way cross (basically a pendant incorporating four or five different medals in the form of a cross). The back would almost certainly have had a depiction of Our Lady of Mt Carmel (which together with the Sacred Heart would form a Scapular Medal), just as it has the back of the Miraculous Medal opposite the front of that one.
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Yes, that sounds correct. I don’t know, I got it a long time ago. I mostly wear it because I like the fact it has St. Christopher on it.
 
Are you sure it is St. Anthony? I have one like that but it has St. Joseph. The other three are the same that you mention.
 
Corki said:
Are you sure it is St. Anthony? I have one like that but it has St. Joseph. The other three are the same that you mention.
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It probably is St. Joseph. I only said St. Anthony with a guess. My necklace is so worn down I can barely tell.
 
I had one in school. They used to call them “athletic medals”; soldiers also wore them and they were called “military medals”; I only ever heard the term “four-way medal” in the last few months or so.

They were popular with soldiers and athletes because one could maximize one’s devotions with one medal: to reduce the weight of more than one medal (and in the case of soldiers, possibly to reduce the rattling). The medal usually has St Joseph, St Christopher, Holy Ghost, Miraculous Medal, and the Brown Scapular. Seems to me these are the most common (and possibly most powerful) medals for the protections and promises accorded to them. In the case of the soldier’s medal, it seems like having a sacred arsenal rather than just one sacramental weapon – kind of like a sacramental Swiss Army knife.

NOTE: Normally, in the case of the Brown Scapular, the promises attached to the cloth Scapular do NOT attach to the medal, except in very exceptional circumstances – I imagine combat being one of them.
 
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